


If You Cannot Get Rid of the Family Skeleton

by Zialia



Category: Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Artemis brings home disgraced sidekicks like alley cats, Found Family, Jade begrudgingly becomes the mom friend, Jade takes Artemis with her, They're All Gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29215362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zialia/pseuds/Zialia
Summary: "You need to leave." His voice is flat. Jade nods.There's nothing else to do. She takes a breath, hikes Artemis a little higher on her hip, and drags the duffel bag out of the apartment.Or rather: Jade makes a different choice. Artemis makes the same choice, and Jade keeps coming home to a new baby superhero on her couch every week.
Relationships: Artemis Crock & Jade Nguyen, Jade Nguyen & the band of baby heros she unintentionally adopts
Kudos: 7





	If You Cannot Get Rid of the Family Skeleton

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I have feelings about Jade staying with Artemis and accidentally radicalizing her baby sister's little club. Jade loves her, she really does, but seriously, they're running out of couch space.  
> I think this version of Jade isn't so traumatized at the very beginning, so instead of taking her mom's capture as a sign to run as fast as she can, she takes it as a sign to hold onto whatever she's got. Both are a mood, but because she takes Artemis with her, Artemis doesn't take Green Arrow's offer, instead just wandering around as an actual vigilante and randomly bringing these sidekicks home with her.  
> Title is from George Bernard Shaw's quote: "If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance."

i.

She’s fourteen when her mother falls.

It’s a stupid mistake, of course. Artemis would never say that, her mother wouldn’t say that, but Jade is harsh like that. Their father is harsh like that. Running from the Batman is the only way to escape him, but Huntress got cocky, alone and unarmed and so goddamn arrogant.

Then again, it doesn’t matter what Jade’s opinion is. Admitting mistakes doesn’t take them back, and right now Jade is fourteen and has a little sister who doesn’t know how to be hard and scary. Artemis wouldn’t understand why she has to run, even if Jade was bleeding and crying and screaming for Artemis to go. Artemis is their mother’s daughter, and Jade is so, so scared of that.

Jade is fourteen, her mother is as good as dead, and her father is running scared.

Fuck.

ii.

She knows her parents' cover is blown.

To be honest, she knew it was barely there to begin with; their cover was thin because it had never needed to be solid. Crusher Crock was notorious in the Underworld, and Jade knows her parents valued the name more than the safety of a deep cover.

Her mother used to say the League didn’t care about identities, just operatives. _If the League chases you,_ she’d explained, grazing Jade’s shoulder with a sai, _it wouldn’t be enough to have a new name. It wouldn’t be enough to run, or to fight, or even to die. The demon takes what is his, and he does not let it go to waste._

Jade fills in the rest herself, obviously. Her parents belonged to the League, belonged to Ra’s. They were very, very good. Huntress and Sportsmaster were valuable, so long as they were loyal to the throne. If Ra's al Ghul ever found out how far the pair would go for their children, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her and Artemis.

Her mother watches her come to this conclusion with dark eyes. Then she kicks Jade in the shoulder and pins her to the ground.

_The demon doesn’t waste what is already his, Ngọc. His daughter doesn’t waste what could be hers, instead._

She chokes under the pin, scrabbles against her mother’s hold, and thinks about it until she understands. If Talia decided they were a wild card, the daughter of the demon liked keeping pets. Jade really doesn’t want to be a pet.

The reality is, if her father weighs their chance with the League and finds them lacking, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill either of them. Jade is certain her father would kill his own daughters, so long as the demon and his children didn’t get them. And, well - Jade might be good, but if Crusher Crock wants them dead, she won’t be able to stop him.

iii.

Their father comes back in the middle of the night, dripping blood and hauling the duffel bag of his latest payout.

Artemis is asleep, and Jade prays to god she stays there. He glares at her for half a second, stares right past the baretta she's pointing at him. Not that it would stop him or anything; Jade's been shot wearing the same kind of body armor. It won’t fail.

"So what?" he scoffs. "Are you going to do it?"

Her hands don’t shake, of course, she’s better than that. She should just shoot him now. When she shoots him in the mask - not if, she’s not going to fucking miss - it’ll splinter, and then she’ll shoot him again, bang-bang-bang, until he falls dazed or unconscious or dead. She can take the money, take his mask, and claim the honor of killing Sportmaster. She’ll just pull the trigger and be done.

She lowers the gun. He drops the bag, and takes off the helmet. "You need to leave." His voice is flat. Jade nods.

"Alright," she whispers, hates herself for how it breaks, and goes to wake up her little sister. When she comes back out, her father is gone. The duffel bag is still there. There's nothing else to do. She takes a breath, hikes Artemis a little higher on her hip, and drags the duffel bag out of the apartment.


End file.
